Thyroxine

Older adults with decreasing serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels were more likely than those with a steady level to experience cognitive decline, according to findings published in Thyroid.

I was recently in our endocrine clinic, reviewing labs in between patients while also supervising three fellows. Once I saw this thyroid lab report, I paused, and then, I smiled.

Younger adults with Graves’ disease have more severe hyperthyroidism than older adults, and men are less likely to have disease remission compared with women, according to a study published in Thyroid.

A high human chorionic gonadotropin level in early pregnancy is associated with lower risk for developing gestational diabetes, with maternal free thyroxine level acting as an important mediator, according to data published in Thyroid.

Most adults with free thyroxine levels slightly below the reference range have normal free T4 index values and did not have abnormal findings on pituitary imaging or functional tests, according to a study published in Endocrine Practice.

Low thyroid-stimulating hormone levels are positively associated with incident depression, particularly among women, and even among euthyroid adults, according to findings published in Clinical Endocrinology.

Adults with hypothyroidism taking levothyroxine therapy may derive a greater benefit when taking the drug at bedtime vs. before breakfast, according to findings published in Clinical Endocrinology.

Reference ranges for thyroid function among adolescents differ substantially from those for adults, according to findings from a longitudinal analysis published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Researchers assessing a cohort of primarily euthyroid mother-child pairs observed positive associations between maternal and cord thyroid-stimulating hormone concentrations and maternal and early childhood TSH concentrations, according to findings published in Clinical Endocrinology.

Adults who do not display symptoms of thyroid dysfunction should not be screened for such conditions, according to a recommendation statement from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care published in CMAJ.